


we should forgive our enemies (but not before they are hanged)

by zealous_whispers_of_us



Series: Not Your Omega [16]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe-Werewolves, F/M, Finally, Minor Character Death, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Revenge, Suicidal Thoughts, too many tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:22:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29255160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zealous_whispers_of_us/pseuds/zealous_whispers_of_us
Summary: She thought the wolves who hurt her wouldn't return. She was wrong, Bucky flounders on how to help, and they go hunting.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Series: Not Your Omega [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1191004
Comments: 12
Kudos: 26





	1. We Should Forgive Our Enemies (But Not Before They Are Hanged)

**Author's Note:**

> I marked it violent to be safe, and Bucky talks briefly about wanting to die, so please mind those tags! 
> 
> Also, I'm thinking of writing a few prequels where I explore the nature of Baby doll and Erik and Charles' relationship. Bucky wouldn't be in it, but would anyone be interested in something like that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, here we go, team—the beginning of the end. I sort of have a few things that I want to write still, but this is the last bit if we look at it canonically.
> 
> I marked it violent to be safe, and Bucky talks briefly about wanting to die, so please mind those tags! 
> 
> Also, I edited it the best that I could, but I have been reading my old stuff, and I miss so many errors, lol.

There is a letter that arrives a few weeks after she has woken up for good. It is buried amongst the rest of the mail, and Bucky brings it in after he serves breakfast to Sir Calidore, Una, their new goat Steven Junior, and a crow that keeps hanging around. He throws the mail onto their kitchen counter before he heads upstairs to join his omega in bed. She doesn't ask him to bring up the mail, and Bucky forgets about it as they fall in between the sheets. It is one of those mornings where everything is soft and slow. She kisses Bucky so sweet that his teeth ache with it. They move flawlessly together, with Bucky hovering over her. He tells her to keep her eyes open when they begin slipping shut underneath the weight of her desire. She does as he asks, and it makes Bucky smile. She nuzzles his nose with her own. Bucky knots her as she comes without making a sound. And after Bucky shifts them around, she falls right to sleep, curled up on his chest. As she nods off, Bucky sighs blissfully. He closes his eyes, hoping that she will be in his dreams and that his dreams will be pleasant.

The sun is still burning high in the sky when Bucky rouses again. He realizes that his omega is no longer in bed with him. Thinking that he could use a midnight- er, _midafternoon_ snack, Bucky stretches before heading downstairs. He finds his omega in the kitchen with the same idea as he did. She sips at a B-positive bag as she pets Una, who is curled up in her lap. Bucky walks to the refrigerator and pulls out his favorite blood (A-negative) before joining her at the table. He hooks a knee around one of the legs of the opposite chair and pulls his omega closer. Una bristles at the movement, glaring at Bucky.

"Couldn't sleep?" Bucky asks his omega.

"I can't shake this feeling that something is wrong," she replies.

That makes him bristle.

"What're you thinkin'?"

"I'm not sure. I can't quite put my finger on what it is."

"Why don' we go back to bed? Maybe, it'll come to ya after you sleep on it."

"Maybe." She tilts her head inquiringly. "Hey, did we get any mail?"

"Uh, oh, yeah. I put it on th' counter. Why?" asks Bucky.

"Can you bring it over? I would get it, but I don't want to disturb Una."

"'Course not," Bucky jokes, picking up the pile of mail and bringing it to her. "We can't have th' Queen Regent herself bein' uncomfortable."

She smiles too, ruffling through the mail.

"I mean, Una is the head of the…"

Bucky watches as she freezes at what looks to be an envelope. His eyebrows furrow as several undecipherable emotions flit across her face. Bucky is about to ask her what the problem is before she collapses out of her chair. She falls onto her hands and knees and _howls._ It is a sound that he has never heard from anyone, let alone his omega. Bucky immediately knows that something is wrong. She screams, and Bucky watches as bloody tears begin to stain the carpet below her.

"What? What? What's wrong? What's happened? 'Mega, talk to me!" Bucky cries.

He scrambles out of his chair, blood forgotten. He grabs at her, feeling how withered she feels underneath his hands. Her skin is bitterly cold, and her scent is nonexistent. It is not the musty smell of her depression nor the burning rubber smell of her anger. It is not even bitter and acrid like her fear. It is simply _not there_ , and Bucky is terrified. He thinks she is about to slip into a coma again. He holds her tighter.

"Honey, what's wrong?! What happened?! Tell me!" Bucky demands.

His answer is more screaming. Bucky turns his attention to the white envelope, and he reaches up to grab it off the table. It is an everyday thing, with no writing on the backside. He tears into it anyway. Inside, there is a letter. Bucky starts to read it, only to see that it is written in German and has no idea what it says. However, the message ends with a signature that looks like it could read _Charles._ And looking closer still, Bucky sees what seems to be dried blood sprinkled across the front of the envelope.

"Baby," he whispers.

His only answer is her shrieks. The sole thing that Bucky can think to do is to drape himself entirely over her. He hates how helpless he feels now as he listens to his sweet omega sob as her entire world crumbles underneath her feet. It hits Bucky then that this must be what it is like for a vampire to lose her 'pack.' She must feel utterly alone. Bucky valiantly tries not to feel sorry for himself. He knows that she loves him and that he cannot even compare their relationship. He imagines what it would feel like to lose his pack. And not just lose them, but to find out that they were likely slaughtered. He does not silence her, does not tell her that everything will be okay. He knows that doing so will not help her now. Instead, Bucky radiates a calming scent, and he purrs, letting her feel him and his warmth from her head to her toes. He loses track of time that way.

The sun is nearly set when Bucky pulls away from his omega. Her howls had subsided a while ago, but she is still whimpering like an injured pup. She scrubs at the bloody tears drying on her cheeks.

"Lemme get you something,'" Bucky whispers.

"No, it's okay," she rasps. "I have to go. I have to see."

Despite everything screaming in him to prevent this, Bucky nods resignedly. He knows that she needs to do this, and he knows that nothing he could say would stop her anyway. 

"Okay," he replies. "I'm comin' with you. Th' pack will back us up. I can't let ya get hurt again, not after gettin' you back."

"Okay."

She cannot move, she finds. Gently, Bucky helps her to sit up. He finds one of his sweatshirts on their coatrack and pulls it over her to shield her from the cold she doesn't need to be protected from. Her legs are limp as Bucky guides her feet into some shoes. She does not necessarily need them either, but he decides that he wants to do this for her- to protect her in any way that he can. She does not protest any of this; she lets him manipulate her to his liking. Finally, Bucky urges her to stand up. She curls her fingers around his and tucks herself into his side.

"Good?" he asks.

She jerks her head in an approximate nod. They walk to their back door, and Bucky pushes it open. He sees her take a deep breath before she steps outside with him. They walk a few feet into their backyard. She lets out a soft noise that draws his attention. At the edge of the forest lies a body. With his omega tucked firmly behind him, Bucky goes to inspect it.

"A vamp," he solemnly reports when he can see it. "Although I don't know who it is. D'you know?"

"I didn't know everyone who lived with Erik and Charles. They're the closest vampires near us, but they still live hundreds of miles from here. They were running here for protection, I know it."

"Maybe they got into a fight with another vamp?" Bucky asks hopefully.

"No. We don't splatter blood like that."

They continue. It is one hundred miles of running later when they find a second body. This time, she goes to investigate. The body is split apart down the torso, and there is so much blood that Bucky retches. The smell is unbelievable. Her face is blank as she moves the head with her shoe. She shakes her head, indicating that she does not know this vamp either. They do not linger around this body either. She tugs Bucky to urge him to walk on, and he does, wondering who would be this vengeful to want to eviscerate an already dead vamp. Would they have done the same to his omega if she had died?

It is seventy miles before they stumble upon a new scene. This time, there are three bodies, and she stalls in her tracks, her breath leaving her in a squeak. This time, Bucky is sure.

"Honey, maybe we should go home," he says gently.

"No," she says, setting her jaw. "I need to see."

She approaches the first body noiselessly. Bucky follows behind her almost as inaudibly, although he is not as limber as a vamp as she is since he has not been one nearly as long. He breaks a stick, and the sound vibrates all around them. He stifles a curse, not wanting to draw the attention of whoever is responsible for this bloodshed. Bucky knows in his gut it was the same wolfpack, but he cannot smell any other wolves around. Knowing what he knows, that does not mean they aren't nearby. He does not want his omega to be hurt. She kneels near the head of the first body and mutters something.

"You know 'im?" Bucky whispers.

"Charles," she says, her voice thick. "It's Charles. He must have stayed behind to let the others go ahead."

She wipes away her tears savagely, almost slapping herself as she stands. There is blood on her legs, not her own, but she ignores it as she moves on. Bucky wants to call after her, to warn her, but he bites his tongue and follows close behind. He wonders if he should wolf out but wants to be able to talk to her. At the first sign of trouble, he will, he tells himself firmly.

And then, naturally, the last body is Erik. She collapses next to the one she called brother and stares into the gaping hole in his chest as though she will be able to find the answers she is looking for. Bucky stands a few inches away, no wanting to intrude into what seems like a private moment. He surveys the land but sees no indication that they are being watched. He smells nothing, either. Still, Bucky feels like they should not dawdle. He gives his omega three more minutes before he heads over to her.

"'Mega, we should go," he tells her softly. "In case they come back."

"It was them," she whispers, her voice garbled.

"What was that?"

At that, she slowly turns around, her scent turning dark and oily. The smell of her fury is overpowering, making Bucky cough. She glares at him through red eyes. For the first time, Bucky sees her for what she can be. Unthinkingly, he takes a few steps back. She is breathing faster and faster, would be hyperventilating if she were not a vamp before she speaks around a mouthful of fangs.

"It was them," she snarls furiously. "They did this! Do you know who they are?"

"No, I told ya, we have no idea. Honey, let's jus' go home."

"No, I can't. I won't leave them here. They _ripped_ them open!"

"What are ya gonna do, huh? Run all over th' world 'til you find 'em? No, you stay here with me."

"You don't understand!"

"You think I don't know how this feels? Are you serious?! I watched you _die._ I stood over yer bed, waitin' for you to wake up for _months._ I tied a noose in th' shed, an' didn't jump. I still have nightmares, even weeks after the fact! Fuck ' _I don't understand.'_ "

"It's not the same thing! How would you feel if your pack was killed, huh?"

"My fuckin' heart don't beat for the likes of _Clint Barton_ , _"_ Bucky says.

"Well, then, what about Steve? Sam?"

"I- shut up. We're goin' home right now, end of discussion."

" _You_ go home, Bucky," she replies, eerily calm now. "Go home right now."

"What are ya gonna do?"

"They deserve to die."

"If you think I'm lettin' you go hunt these bastards by yourself, you're insane."

"You can't keep up with me."

"The hell I can't. We do this together, or not at all. If you think I'm lettin' you outta my sight again, you got another thing comin.'"

"I've lived centuries alone without you."

"Yeah, an' now I'm here, I ain't lettin' you do this by yourself." Bucky lets out a heavy breath, hating how his voice quivers with his next words. "I know he was like yer brother, but yer my entire heart and soul. Those fuckers hurt you; I wanna hurt 'em back. Please, just, fuck, let me come with you. I-I need to make sure you're safe. I can't do it again. I'll die. 'M not strong enough. If you go alone, I can't promise I'm gonna be here if you get back."

Her gaze has softened. She approaches Bucky slowly, cradling his face in her hands. He sniffs, trying not to cry, but she throws her arms around him and holds him tight. 

"Okay," she murmurs. "Okay, you're right. If it were me who had to see you die, I would want to go with you now." 

Bucky nods, wiping his nose. He squares his shoulders.

"I'm gonna wolf out. We c'n cover more ground if I do. I'll stay low, you go high, but don't go so far ahead that I can't smell you, okay?"

"Okay. Do you think that Stark guy might know anything this time?"

"He may. Strange, his partner, is a warlock. Maybe he sensed th' magic this time. But he lives so far away, darlin', are you sure you're up for it?"

She sets her jaw.

"Yes."

"I don't believe you, but I know you ain't gonna give it up, so we'll go. If you get tired, say somethin.' I'll be able to tell through the bond either way, but _tell_ _me."_

"I will," she says, and Bucky believes her.

He nods once and then focuses his mind on the shift, calling his wolf forward. Though the trees protect their skin from its rays, the sun has not fully set, and the transformation is challenging. His omega respectfully turns away to give Bucky privacy. He hears her whistle for Sir Calidore, and he smiles despite the pain. Sir Calidore is not an average dog. What he truly is, however, neither know. All that they know is that he is fast and never seems to tire out. He is overly strong and is still growing, even after all this time. He is as tall on all fours as Bucky's omega is on two, and he is protective of his people.

"Ready?" she asks when Sir Calidore is at her side.

_"Yeah,"_ Bucky says through their bond, scratching his ear with his back foot.

"I sent a text to Wanda, Natasha, Sharon, and Peggy to watch Una, Steven Junior, and that damn crow."

Bucky bobs his head in acknowledgment before tilting up and howling into the dusk to let his pack know what is about to happen. 

"All systems go?"

_"Three."_

"Two."

_"One."_

His omega is limber and graceful as she jumps into the trees. Her stiff muscles have worked themselves out, and Bucky is grateful. He had prayed to Horz and the other Gods every day for her to come back to him in one piece. They both still have nightmares, but they are together. Bucky cannot ask for anything else. He tears off into the forest after her, Sir Calidore hot on his heels. He can sense her above his head. She is leaping from tree to tree, swinging off the branches, and generally being a showoff. Bucky inwardly smiles, pleased. 

"What are you smiling at, huh?" she calls.

_"You."_

"Am I that impressive?"

_"Always."_

"You too, Buck."

He preens at that and can hear her soft laughter in his head. In the back of his mind, he knows that now is certainly notthe time for it, but he feels like showing off a little too. The wolf in his head agrees with this idea, telling him _impressomega_ over and over. Gaining speed, Bucky runs at the nearest tree and leaps at it with all of his strength. It sways dangerously before breaking off at the bottom of the trunk. They watch as it falls to the forest floor with an earth-shattering thump. Bucky smiles, dancing around.

"Show off," she says, but it is fond.

_"Again?"_

"Leave the trees alone, Hercules. They didn't do anything to you."

_"Impressed?"_

"You're incredible, Buck, really. I'll always think that. You don't need to knock down trees for me to think so."

If Bucky were human, he would be blushing. He digs the pads of his front paw into the dirt, feeling shy and pleased. 

_"Love. You."_ he manages to get out.

"I love you too, baby." Her voice satisfies him like a good scratch against a tree after a successful kill. "Are you picking up any scents down there?"

He had forgotten that they were on a mission; he was so wrapped up in her. Bucky does his job.

_"No."_

"Something feels strange to me." She sounds troubled. "Can you feel it too?"

Bucky finds it hard to focus on anything besides protecting his omega, but he tries his best to turn his attention away from her. She skids to a stop suddenly, nearly toppling out of her tree, and Bucky stops too with a cry of:

_"What?!"_

"I- I can't go any farther. There's some sort of barrier."

She hops out of the tree and lands next to Bucky.

"Right here," she says, pointing a few feet ahead.

Bucky walks forward and keeps going. Whatever it is, he can pass through it fine, but she cannot. He can smell something strange when he does, though, like burning hair. The very air shimmers around him. 

_"Gate,"_ he realizes.

"We found them."

_"Yeah."_

"They're so close, but they're. It's like they're."

_"Hidin'."_

"Exactly. But then why did they let you through?"

_"Know."_

"Shit. They know we're coming," she echoes. 

_"Yeah."_


	2. You Found Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is something more at work here than just wolves attacking her and her family.

**_"Ain't like you vamps made us wolves your bitches for hundreds of years!"_ **

**_"...That was eons ago! My great-great-grandparents weren't even alive when the last wolf trade happened!"_ **

* * *

As it turns out, the gate was the least of their worries. It did not go in a circle as they once thought, and so, when they found where it stopped, they had walked through like it was nothing. A monstrous building awaited them, but no wolves. The building had been much too easy to break into, also.

“It’s too simple,” his omega says for the third time in the last fifteen minutes.

Bucky is beginning to agree with her. Somewhere in this place are wolves lying in wait. He moves to her side, licking her hand comfortingly. He can feel her unease.

Every sound is making her nervous. Somewhere, _anywhere_ are the wolves that hurt her and killed her family. She imagines that she can feel eyes on her, hiding in the shadows and waiting to strike. The rage in her chest has all but disappeared. Now, she is afraid, and she hates herself for it. These wolves do not deserve her fear. They don’t deserve any of her attention beyond ‘ _how many ways can I kill you tonight?_ ’ Not for the first time, she wonders if she shouldn’t have come. She meets Bucky’s eyes. He wants nothing more than to tear these wolves apart.

 _“Go?”_ he asks.

“Yeah, let’s see what this building has in store for us.”

_“Front.”_

She nods. The hallways are too narrow for them to walk side by side, anyway. Bucky slips in front of her, and she can feel Sir Calidore behind. She feels safe between them as the three begin to walk again.

The building is ancient in its design. Cyclopean walls are covered in moss and grime and give off the impression that they take up more than three dimensions. She is reminded of Lovecraftian horror stories the longer she looks around. There is something strange at work here. Whether it is magic or not, she cannot tell. Magic leaves a specific residue, a particular smell to the air, and even when the wolves had surrounded her, she could not sense it. Though, it could very well be a type of magic she hasn’t yet seen before. 

Bucky abruptly stops, and she bumps into him. He taps his paw on the ground to get her attention.

_“Look.”_

She casts her eyes down. Papers lay across the roughened floor, and she picks one up. The words are in English, but she cannot comprehend what they are talking about. It is beyond her. She picks up another and unrolls it- an enormous map. She scans over the thing, noting the small red Xs. Three countries have a single big red X through them.

“What _is_ this?” she wonders aloud.

Imprudently, she looks over to where she lives now with Bucky. A few inches away, there are five Xs.

“Fuck!” she shouts.

 _“What?!”_ Bucky cries. He rushes over to investigate.

“It’s- the map, it- it shows Erik and Charles and the three vampires that were with them when they- when they were murdered.”

_“Sure?”_

“Am I sure? Are you serious?”

As she looks at the map, understanding washes over her. She knows now what this is, and Bucky must realize too because he says:

_“Xs.”_

And then:

_“Dead.”_

She nods. But how could it happen? There were tens of thousands of vampires all over the world. It would take centuries to wipe out a _single_ country’s population, let alone three. What kind of wolves are they? Not subtle, for one. 

“They wanted us to find it,” she says darkly. "Assholes."

She picks up the map and starts tearing it into pieces. When there is nothing left but dust, she turns and walks away. Bucky scrambles after her. The deeper they go into the building, the more Bucky tastes bitter fear. The air begins to smell like rotted meat, and once they stumble across the first body part, his omega retches. Sir Calidore finds a pile of brittle bones; Bucky finds a pile of mossy limbs; she notices nail grooves in the stone walls like something was fighting to escape.

She doesn’t realize how much she is shaking until she feels Bucky pressing against her. She leans into his warmth. He licks her, his eyes sad. He wants so much to shed his wolf skin so he can hold his omega in the safety of his arms, but he knows he cannot. Somewhere, wolves that want his sweet baby doll dead lie in wait. She was right; they do want to be found. 

_“Simple,”_ Bucky parrots her.

“It is. Where are they hiding?”

Before he can reply, his omega whirls around and lets her fangs slip free from her gums with a snarl. Bucky looks and spots two pairs of yellow eyes shining at them.

 _“Finally,_ ” Bucky growls before sprinting to meet them head-on.

He and one wolf slam into each other with enough force to make Bucky dizzy. The other goes right for his omega, but Bucky can’t see what happens as he and the first wolf begin to fight. He sinks his teeth into the wolf’s shoulder, drawing blood, but not nearly enough. The taste of the wolf stains his tongue, making Bucky nauseated. While he is distracted, the wolf clamps its teeth around Bucky’s back leg and tugs so hard that Bucky hears something pop. He yelps in pain, and the wolf bashes its head into Bucky’s snout. He can feel his snout bleeding.

 _“Powerful,”_ he manages to tell his omega before the wolf pins him to the ground.

“Bucky!” she cries.

Bucky hears a sickening thump, and he screams, trying to escape. The wolf on top of him is grinning, mocking him, and Bucky bares his teeth through a haze of blood. The wolf leans closer and closer still, looming over him and looking like it is getting larger by the second. Before it bites Bucky’s face clean off, he gets his hind legs underneath it and kicks hard. The wolf goes flying before it hits its head against the stone wall and moves no more. He races to help his omega.

She is swearing a blue streak at the wolf as they fight viciously. Bucky smells burning flesh. She must have been wearing some kind of silver somewhere. Bucky bares his teeth and joins in. His omega is covered in blood, mostly her own, and Bucky snarls as his hindbrain howls for revenge. He cannot see past the desire to tear this wolf apart. It slashes his omega in the side, and she yelps, momentarily distracted. The wolf opens its mouth, preparing to lunge, but she turns back, her eyes now blood red. She looks at Bucky, who looks back. They stare at each other, and she arches an eyebrow. Bucky nods. Like a well-oiled machine, Bucky lunges as his omega leaps at the wolf. He pins it down while she lands on its stomach. She takes her nails and forces them through the wolf’s chest. It screams in pain. She smiles a crazed smile as she pulls its heart free from its chest. She throws it to Cal, who eats it in one gulp.

“Well, good thing we practiced that,” she says before she scrambles off the now dead wolf.

 _“Okay?”_ Bucky asks, worried.

“I’m fine. How’s your leg? I heard it pop.”

 _“Healin,’”_ he reassures.

And it is. Both of them are. The deep bite on her side is slowly stitching itself back together, which is a good sign. That means whatever the wolves previously had done that almost killed her was not a thing anymore. Or that these guard wolves didn’t carry any iron. Either way, Bucky feels better about the entire situation.

“We should keep going,” she says. “When that wolf had me up against that wall, I heard something.”

_“What?”_

“It sounded like crying.”

_“Where?”_

“This way.”

As they move deeper into the building, the landscape changes dramatically. It becomes even more confusing to navigate, as though four different buildings were mashed together to form this one. Runes paint the wall, and Bucky goes to investigate. When he discovers that the paint is blood, he recoils. His omega walks over and touches them. She can read them, and she tells Bucky of an ancient curse that speaks of all vampires' end. It is a story that Bucky vaguely knows, but he never realized anybody took it seriously. It was a story that parents told their pups to keep them inside. It went something like-

 _Way back when the world was new, vampires were taking pups and selling them to the highest bidder. The wolves that survived did so by hiding in plain sight, thanks to the ancient magic that permeated the very earth they walked on. They would recruit impressionable pups, telling them that it was all for the greater good and the survival of the species if they eliminated the vampire population._ That was where the story ended.

But Bucky and his omega had discovered the truth ages ago after a fight between them nearly ended their relationship before it began.

It was human hunters that took the pups and sold them. Humans saw werewolves and vampires as subhuman and something to eliminate, and it was easy for them to twist the narrative when vampires and werewolves already disliked each other. The wolves _did_ hide using magic but recruited; they did not. They did the very thing the humans did- they kidnapped pups from right under their parents’ noses. They trained them to fight each other in some sick gladiatorial ring. Only the strongest survived to fight off the vampire scourge. It began as a way of survival but devolved into control and wickedness. And still, the humans got off scot-free while the werewolves became imbued with thoughts of vengeance, and the vampires were culled.

“Gods, it’s like something out of the worst horror novel,” his omega remarks.

 _"Mh'ithrha,"_ Bucky says.

"Exactly! Lovecraft! Are we dealing with the Hounds of Tindalos here? Do these wolves live in the 'angles' of time?"

_"Fairytale."_

"These fuckers don't think so."

Both Bucky and his omega realize something at the same time.

"No," she says.

 _"Where?"_ Bucky yelps.

He races down the hallway with his omega following. If these bastards believe in that ridiculous human-made myth about wolf supremacy and terrible revenge, that means they are keeping children locked up somewhere. It defies logic. Bucky cannot believe this is his life.

"Here! Turn here," she says urgently.

Skidding and almost running into a wall, Bucky does. They are making too much noise not to be caught, but no wolves appear anywhere. His omega stops a few feet ahead, and Bucky races to her side. They both stare at a door.

_"Warded?"_

"No."

She grasps the knob in her hands and turns it. Bucky pushes the door with his snot. It swings open, and he peers inside. In the middle of the cold room, lit up by a single lightbulb on a chain, a circle is drawn in red. Bucky sniffs it. It is blood. And there is more blood near it, along with a few teeth—remnants of a fight that just happened and that his omega must have heard.

"I hate this," she says.

_"Know."_

"They're trying to create the best warriors, but they kidnap kids to do so."

Not just kids.

 _"Alphas,_ " Bucky corrects.

"But don't you find out when you're a teenager? Not a kid?"

_"Leaders."_

"Their pack leaders know. Let me see if I understand- you're pack alpha, and so is your dad, right?"

_"Right."_

“And domestic issues notwithstanding, he knew that you were destined to be pack alpha? Or, at least, _some_ pack’s alpha?”

“ _Yeah.”_

“So, what, these wolves ask current pack alphas if their kids are going to be the future alpha, and if they are, they kidnap them because they know their parents would say no if they did the right thing and ask? Or is it they train their own children?”

_“Both.”_

“What kind of sick bastard would do that to their kid?"

_“Supremacist.”_

“Yeah. This is too much. Are you overwhelmed?”

_“Home?”_

“No. They are keeping kids somewhere, Buck. We need to find them."

The room is dark as hell away from the fighting ring, but Bucky and his omega have no problem seeing. She follows so close behind him that Bucky can feel her shaking. He doesn’t blame her whatsoever. This is like something out of a storybook. It is too grotesque to be real. He is starting to get frustrated walking around this cold, damp room and finding nothing.

And then, seemingly out of thin air, they hear:

“Help.”

His omega jumps clean out of her skin.

And again.

“Can you come?”

“W-where are you?” she calls, her voice quivering.

“Here.”

“Okay, we’re coming to you. Stay there, okay?”

“Okay.”

 _“Kid_ ,” Bucky says.

“I know it is,” his omega wails. “Oh, my Gods.”

They get to one end of the room and turn around. There are empty dog kennels on the floor. Furious, Bucky kicks one, and it rattles loudly. He kicks it again and again, growling. These wolves are sick and twisted, keeping pups locked up in dog crates for their entire lives, no food, no love, no _anything,_ just fighting each other until they get murdered or grow up to become nothing more than foot soldiers in a war that should not have been started in the first place!

 _“FUCK!”_ Bucky shouts, picking the cage up and throwing it to the ground in an attempt to break it.

She watches Bucky wrestle with the cage before her ears pick up the sound of crying. It isn’t loud like one would expect. The child must have been trained not to make much noise. Sick with the injustice of it all, she follows the noise. All of the dog kennels (dog kennels, really?) are empty, save for one. The pup inside is crying, curled up into a ball, and filthy. He is thin, too, like he hasn’t been eating enough.

“Hello,” she murmurs.

He uncurls himself and looks at her with big blue eyes. He cannot be older than five, and her heart hurts.

“Are you going to drink my blood?” he asks.

“No.”

“Do I have to fight?”

“No. No, you don’t have to fight anyone again.”

“Okay.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No. Hungry.”

“Okay.”

“Can I come out yet?”

“Yes.”

She approaches the kennel. The child watches her warily like he doesn’t believe she isn’t about to hurt him in any way. He looks like all he has ever known is fear. His body is tense with it. She breaks the padlock easily and opens the door.

“What’s your name?” she asks.

“RJ.”

She smiles kindly and tells him her name.

“You’re a vampire,” he says.

“Yes.”

“You haven’t killed me.”

“No. I won’t hurt you.”

“You promise?”

“I promise. Do you want to come out of there?”

RJ nods, scrambling on hands and knees to escape the cage. He is so weak that he can barely stand. When he sways on his feet, looking like he is about to faint, she rushes to hold him up. Much to her surprise, he lets her. They stare a each other for a beat.

“Where are your parents?” she asks.

“Dead," he sniffles, “I didn’t want to fight. The wolves said, if I win, I can eat. But I never win.”

“Do you know where they are?”

“Three are here. The others are out hunting.” RJ considers her. “Do vampires want to kill and eat all the pups in the world?”

“No,” she says.

“I don’t like it here,” RJ says. “I don’t like fighting my friends.”

“And that’s okay. You shouldn’t have to fight your friends. The people that are making you do these things are not good, RJ. No one should make you do something you don’t want to. They are not good people.”

“What’s your dog’s name?”

She smiles. “Sir Calidore. Do you want to meet him?”

“Yes.”

She whistles. Sir Calidore trots over from wherever he was, Bucky trailing behind him. Bucky looks shaken; distress rolls off of him in waves. He sees her on the floor, holding RJ, and he looks curiously at her. She shrugs in reply as Sir Calidore bends down to sniff RJ’s face.

“RJ, this is Sir Calidore. Cal, this is RJ,” she says.

“Hi,” says RJ shyly.

Again, the two of them stare at each other for a beat before Sir Calidore sprawls on the ground, begging for a belly rub. RJ, bless him, indulges the dog. She turns to Bucky.

 _“Wolves?”_ he asks.

“Three,” she tells him. “Alpha included.”

_“More?”_

“Out hunting. For what, I don’t know.”

_“Parents?”_

“No.”

Bucky comes out of the shadows, then, getting a good look at the kid. The kid is covered in sores that Sir Calidore is licking. (That cannot be good for them). The kid is in dire need of a bath and a good meal. When he notices Bucky is looking, he jumps away from Sir Calidore and right into Bucky’s omega’s arms. To both her and Bucky’s surprise, he hides in her chest.

 _“Gods_ ,” Bucky says.

“It’s okay,” she soothes. “This is Bucky. He’s my mate. And Buck, this is RJ.”

“Do I have to fight him?” RJ asks.

“No, you don’t,” she says firmly. “I promise that you won’t have to fight any wolves ever again.”

“Okay,” says RJ, still hiding. “Hi, Bucky.”

 _“Hi,_ ” says Bucky.

“He says hi,” she says.

_"Closer?"_

"RJ, Bucky wants to know if it's okay if he comes closer. You can say no."

"'S okay," he mumbles. His eyes are half-closed.

 _"Tired_ ," Bucky determines as he looks RJ over. 

"Yeah," she agrees.

She meets Bucky's eyes as she considers something. She pushes the idea forward, hoping he can parse out the meaning without her having to say it out loud. Their bond isn't like a traditional bond. It's more images, feelings, and shapes rather than full internal conversations. She sees when Bucky gets it because his eyes grow. He nods knowingly, though she has no idea what about. He looks secretive like he knows something she does not.

"RJ," she begins. "How would you feel about leaving here and finding your pack?"

"I don't have a pack."

"You don't?"

"No. But don't leave me here."

"I would never. What do you want to do?"

"Do vampires live in houses?" RJ asks.

Children switch directions so fast. She is reeling from all the different routes this conversation has taken in the last ten minutes.

"Yes," she says. 

"They told us you lived in caves."

"Well, Bucky and I have a house." She adjusts her hold on RJ. He's starting to doze. "And we have Sir Calidore, a cat named Una, a goat named Steven Junior, and a friendly crow that comes for supper all living with us."

"What do vampires and part-vampire wolves do?"

"Uh, we spend a lot of time in the woods around our house. I like reading; Bucky plays video games. I volunteer at an animal shelter sometimes."

 _"College,_ " says Bucky.

"Right, yeah, Bucky is starting a Master's degree program in the fall."

"What's that?" RJ asks.

"College." She drops her voice, whispering the next part: "Buck's smart."

RJ smiles sleepily. "Do you eat?"

"Well, I don't, but Bucky does because he's part wolf."

"Do you sleep in coffins?"

"Nope. No coffins at our house. Just fluffy, warm beds."

"Okay. Can we go?" RJ asks.

She looks at Bucky, who grins at her. He still looks like he knows something she does not, and she glares. Confused, she asks RJ:

"Go where?"

And RJ looks at her like she's purposely obtuse.

"To your _house_ ," he says like it's the easiest thing in the world.

"Uh, yeah, but, what about your-"

 _"Hurt,"_ Bucky interrupts, tapping his paw on RJ's back. 

Bucky's right, she thinks. They can find RJ's pack when he feels better. It is strange, though, this feeling that is growing in her. The longer she sits in this awful room with this kid that has seen too much, the less she wants to get revenge on the wolves. She knows they have to die with what they are doing, but she wants to get this kid safely out of here before anything else can happen. She wants to protect him. She wants to feed him and give him a warm place to sleep, wants to hug him, and teach him how to hunt. She wants to help him heal and forget about this awful place. She wants him to want to stay at their home for good. She gasps, looking at Bucky again.

 _"Ma,"_ he says knowingly.

She agrees, her head spinning. 

"We're getting out of here, okay?" she tells RJ. 

"'Kay," he says before immediately falling asleep like he was waiting for her to say that.

"What should we do?" she asks Bucky.

 _"Home,"_ he tells her firmly.

The kid, RJ, sniffles in his sleep, squirming around, but she soothes him with a few whispers in the language of her homeland. She's a natural at this; Bucky knew she would be. 

"What about you?" she asks.

_"Wolves."_

He'll stay and deal with the remaining three wolves. He knows he can do it- he's mad enough about what they have found here tonight. He doesn't want to tell her what he knows, not yet. He doesn't want to worry her, not when she needs all her thoughts focused on getting out of here with the kid. But Bucky knows that it can only be one person who would believe in this shit. Alexander Pierce. Pierce survived the turf war, Bucky knew. He must have found a new pack that believed his theories. He knows an alpha attacked his omega, but he isn't sure if it was Pierce. Bucky couldn't smell him, and his omega cannot tell the difference in scents between a pack alpha and a regular alpha. Though, Pierce _could_ feasibly have hidden his scent well enough. Whoever it is, Bucky knows Pierce is the one pulling strings behind the scenes. And to think it all started with an attack on his omega. Bucky's life is a damn soap opera, but with more delusions of grandeur and madmen. 

His omega shakes her head stubbornly.

"I'm not leaving you alone here."

_"'Mega."_

"No Buck. I'm staying with you."

Bucky rolls his eyes, huffing.

_"Kid?"_

"Sir Calidore can take him home."

She places a finger on RJ's forehead and begins to talk in a low voice. Bucky can feel the power of enticement dripping on every syllable. Finally, she pulls away.

"He'll sleep until we get back."

_"Cal?"_

"Right," she says, calling the dog over. 

Sir Calidore stands to his full height as she sets RJ on his back. Bucky and Sir Calidore stare at each other, seeing to communicate wordlessly. The latter woofs, before tearing out of the building.

 _"Safe,"_ Bucky says firmly.

"Okay, good. Ready to go find the alpha?"

Bucky nods. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, this is long, but at least I figured out who I wanted the puppetmaster villain to be?? 
> 
> The beginning bit in bold is from "baby, we could be enough," btw- I was trying to show that they had argued about the wolf trade and vamps vs wolves things before this moment.
> 
> I hope it made some sense, though. I was trying to go for a HYDRA-like vibe without, obviously, using the word HYDRA. [Also, shout out to Marvel for giving Bucky a canonical sidekick that I can write as his kid :) ]


End file.
